Christ the King
Matthew 25:31-46
Rev. Gayle M. Highness
Images
of Our King
In a little while, this morning, we
will pray together as we have hundreds or even thousands of times before, “Thy
Kingdom come.” These words are part of the prayer our Savior himself taught us.
A lot of the time, we probably say
those words without even thinking. But
what do they really mean? Martin Luther
answers that question in his small catechism.
He says:
“Truly God's Kingdom comes by
itself, without our prayer. But we pray in this request that it come to us as
well.” And how does that happen? “It
happens when the Heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that we believe
His holy Word by His grace and live godly lives here in this age and there in
eternal life.”
When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” we
are truly praying that God’s Kingdom will come to this earth to us and through
us.
Today, as we honor Christ as King
over this Kingdom for which we pray, we have heard Scriptures that help us see
just what kind of Kingdom and what kind of King we are asking for. The image of
our King that is revealed in these Scriptures is truly multi-faceted.
One image is that of Christ as King
reigning in heavenly splendor and glory. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he is seated
at God’s right hand “in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority
and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this
age but also in the age to come” – “the head over all things” with “all things
under his feet.”
Another image, seen in the gospel of
Matthew, is Christ as judge, seated on the throne with all the nations gathered
before him, separating people as a shepherd separates sheep and goats, where
the goats go away into eternal punishment while the sheep inherit the kingdom
and come into eternal life.
But there is yet another facet to
this image. The lofty King is also a shepherd who, according to the prophet
Ezekiel, searches for his sheep and seeks them out and rescues them from dark
places and feeds them with good pasture. This shepherd king seeks the lost,
brings back the strayed, binds the injured, and strengthens the weak; but
destroys the fat and strong who have gained their strength by bullying the
weak.
But that’s not all. The image becomes even more multifaceted as
it is revealed that this King who reigns in splendor and judges and also seeks
and saves the lost, somehow himself BECOMES the lost, the hungry, the thirsty,
the stranger, the injured, the naked, the imprisoned.
Everyone loves a good rescue story
such as the ones replayed on that old TV show “Rescue 911” and lots of other
shows as well.
Imagine a rescue story where a child
has wandered into the sewer system and become lost, trapped in sludge and
darkness with filthy water slowly rising threatening to drown him.
The only way the rescue can be
accomplished is for someone to go down in there with a light and GET that child
– physically – wrap his arms around him and bring him out, wash him off and
send him home.
THAT is the kind of King we have – a
King who gets down off the throne to rescue his children. This King will go to
any and every length to restore his children to new life so they can be
re-united with their Father. Saving the
world is what this King is all about and what he HAS been about for all of
time.
But at one specific point in time
2000+ years ago, this King entered our world so completely he even entered into our sin. He became cursed
for us and even entered into our death
to bring us back.
As Paul quoted from an early hymn of
the church in his letter to the Philippians, “Christ Jesus did not regard
equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a
cross.”
But then, God raised Jesus from the
dead and restored him to glory and, as this passage goes on to say, God highly
exalted him so that at his name every need should bend and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The Scriptures also reveal to us
that, just as surely as Jesus came to this earth in human form at a specific
time and place, Jesus will return to earth in his glory and complete the work
he began and which has been progressing all along.
At that time, all darkness will be
turned to light and everything that is dead and cursed will be eliminated or restored.
It makes me think of a cartoon I
once saw – maybe it was Rainbow Bright or a Care Bares story – where, in the
end, everything that was dead and dark and black and white and gray began to
change as color seeped over the landscape and flowers bloomed and everything
became new!
At this time of final judgment, this
King who has been to hell and back to save his children will separate all the
people – those who are and will be in his Kingdom from those who are not.
And how will God’s children be
identified? They will be the ones who are
LIKE God’s son Jesus. Those who have
received new life through the rescue performed on the cross will be the ones
who have gone and done likewise. They apparently won’t even be aware of what
they were really doing because Christ IN THEM did it for CHRIST in the other.
In the end, all that is evil and
deadly will be destroyed for good. But,
until then, the rescue continues.
Ultimately, salvation is the
forgiveness of sin and restoration of our broken relationship with God. This is
the rescue that Jesus adccomplished on the vcross, but the signs of that new life are evident in works
of feeding and healing and forgivenss and proclaiming
God’s love. These are the works that Jesus did among us on the way to the cross
to show us what life in God’s Kingdom looks like while it is still hidden on
this earth.
When we hear the parable about the
sheep and the goats and the judgment, there is a tendency for us to identify
with the judge. We think about whether we are going to be amongst the sheep or
the goats, and we then start to compare and think about where everyone else is
going to be.
“I think that one will be amongst
the sheep,” we think, “But that one is surely a goat.” Or we become preoccupied
with what WE have to do to be a sheep and how well we’re doing it.
But that’s NOT our job in this
story. The sheep and the goats don’t separate THEMSELVES!
There WILL be a judgment, but we
can’t save ourselves for it. We can’t even make ourselves look good or merit a
higher place than someone else. All we can do is recognize that we NEED saving
and get down on our knees and thank the Lord for doing it. If it wasn’t for
Jesus, we would ALL be going to the fire.
And out of that recognition and
gratitude and love say, “Lord, I want to help you extend your rescue to the
next person. I want you to USE ME to
advance your Kingdom on this earth. Here
I am – send me. Fill me. Be in me.
I will go.”
For Jesus to go down into the sewer
and save the lost child now, WE have to do it. For us, who have already been
brought out, to say, “Uh-uh – I’m not going in there. I don’t want to get all
grimy and smelly...” Well, that’s not
Jesus.
Of course, all this is complicated
by the fact that we’re still in the sewer at the same time as we’re on the
rescue team! At any moment, we may be
more like the rescue-ER or more like the rescue-EE. It’s a matter of faith. When we BELIEVE Jesus is alive in us, Jesus
can work through us.
We are called to trust and
obey. Listen for the voice of our
shepherd and follow. Be in the movement
of God’s Spirit bringing life and light to the world.
Martin Luther also had an answer for
what it means to pray, “Thy will be done.”
He wrote, “Truly, God's good and gracious will is accomplished without
our prayer. But we pray in this request that it is accomplished among us as
well.” Or, as one translation from the German put it, “BY us
as well.”
And how does that happen? “It happens
when God destroys and interferes with every evil will and all evil advice,
which will not allow God's Kingdom to come, such as the Devil's will, the
world's will and will of our bodily desires.
“It also happens when God strengthens
us by faith and by His Word and keeps us living by them faithfully until the
end of our lives. This is His will, good and full of grace.”
When you hear the story of Jesus
coming to separate the sheep from the goats, don’t worry about which camp you
are in. If you believe the story, and
you would hope to be a sheep, then just come when the shepherd calls you and
rejoice that, by his death, he has opened the gate for you to enter the
fold. Then, in gratitude, ask him to
make you a shepherd in the meantime!